On Saturday June 1st at 8:00 pm, The Charlottesville Jazz Society welcomes The Matthew Shipp Trio to Charlottesville for a concert at First Presbyterian Church on Park Street. The group is celebrating the release of “Signature,” their new recording on the ESP label.

Matthew Shipp, who turns 60 this year, has established himself as one of the most original voices on the piano of his generation. After dozens of recordings in a wide variety of styles on the Thirsty Ear label, he is talking about winding down his recording career. Charlottesville audiences will want to be sure to take this opportunity to hear and see this one of a kind artist perform. He has been described as a dancer at the piano. Downbeat Magazine says: “Matthew Shipp is the connection between the past, present and future for jazz heads of all ages," and All About Jazz raves that: “Like Thelonious Monk (Shipp) has created a musical vocabulary and language that is idiosyncratic and incomparable in today’s improvised jazz.’’

The current members of the Matthew Shipp Trio are Michael Bisio on bass and Newman Taylor Baker on drums, and they perform on the new cd as well. “Signature” is the follow up to Shipp’s 2017 well-received album “Piano Song,” Both Bisio and Baker are veterans of the New York modern jazz scene, having performed with some of the biggest names in improvised music, including Henry Threadgill, Billy Bang and many others.

Tickets to The Matthew Shipp Trio at First Presbyterian Church at 8 pm on June 1st are available online at Shipptrio.brownpapertickets.com. General admission is $15; $12 for paid supporters of The Charlottesville Jazz Society, and $10 for all students. All tickets will be $20 at the door. For more information visit cvillejazz.org or call (434) 249-6191. Be sure to listen for Matthew Shipp’s music on WTJU-FM.